Artificial intelligence (AI), including the use of agentic tools, has emerged as the leading strategic priority for global asset owners, with over two-thirds (67 per cent) identifying it as a key focus area, new research from the Thinking Ahead Institute and MSCI Institute has revealed.

The Global Asset Owner Technology Peer Study 2026, showed that AI was ranked by asset owners ahead of factors such as adapting to a higher inflationary environment at 44 per cent, managing liquidity pressures at 33 per cent and responding to the growing role of private markets at 28 per cent.

However, the study also found that governance arrangements have yet to keep pace with AI adoption, as only a quarter of participants have made AI a standing board or investment committee agenda item, while 60 per cent said they review it only occasionally.

Furthermore, 75 per cent of participants cited data quality and standardisation as a leading constraint on AI adoption.

Despite this, participants expected technology's contribution to investment outcomes to rise from around 17 per cent today to 30 per cent over the next three to five years.

The study urged asset owners to strengthen leadership and governance by giving boards and executive teams clear ownership of AI strategy, risk and accountability.

It also highlighted the need to build organisation-wide understanding of AI's strengths, limitations and risks, while developing staff able to bridge investment expertise and technology.

The study further called for investment workflows to be redesigned so AI can support decision-making while preserving human oversight, while encouraging asset owners to prepare for AI to become a significant ongoing investment supported by clear measures of value.

Thinking Ahead Institute co-founder, Roger Urwin, commented: “Asset owners are still at an early stage of the AI adoption curve but there is no question about the increasingly important role AI will play in the future.”

He said the growing influence of AI is not simply a matter of adopting new tools, but will change how investment organisations structure work, make decisions and govern risk.

“AI is becoming an organisational story rather than a technology story. The opportunity is immense, but so is the challenge. Asset owners are trying to shape their AI future at the very moment AI is reshaping theirs.”

Adding to this, MSCI Institute founding director and head, Linda-Eling Lee, said: “AI gives asset owners an opportunity to rethink not just how they use technology but the investment process itself.

“Data will be central to that transition, but so will human judgement, governance and the ability to connect investment and technology teams. The opportunity lies in bringing these elements together to support better investment decisions and stronger long-term outcomes.”

The research covered the responses of 20 global asset owners, including pension funds, responsible for more than US$5trn in combined assets.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication European Pensions.

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